Millions of parents in England are being urged to make sure their children are vaccinated against measles following a rapid rise in cases of the potentially deadly disease in the West Midlands.

There have been 216 confirmed measles cases and 103 probable cases in the region since 1 October last year, mostly in children under 10, NHS figures showed.

The majority – 80% – were in Birmingham and the rest in Coventry.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has declared a national incident, warning of a “very real risk” of measles outbreaks across the country and has launched a vaccine catch-up scheme.

Anyone with a child aged six to 11, will be contacted and urged to make an appointment for any missed measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) jabs.

More than one million people aged 11 to 25 in London and the West Midlands will be contacted as the scheme targets areas of low uptake.

The first dose of the MMR jab, which NHS England said is “safe and very effective”, is usually offered to babies aged one, with the second dose given at three years and four months.

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Steve Russell, NHS director of vaccinations and screening, said the health service “is acting quickly to tackle the spread of measles”.

“People who are unvaccinated can get catch-up jabs at pop-ups in schools and other convenient places, while GPs, teachers and trusted community leaders are encouraging groups that are less likely to get their jab to come forward,” he added.

Mr Russell warned measles – a highly contagious disease, spread by coughs and sneezes – is a “serious illness” and one in five children who catch it need hospital treatment.

Read more:
What is measles – and how do you protect against it?
Measles cases are surging – here’s why

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, consultant medical epidemiologist at UKHSA, said: “The continuing downward trend in the uptake of routine childhood vaccinations is a serious concern.

“The diseases that these vaccines protect against, such as measles, can be life-changing and even deadly. No parent wants this for their child especially when these diseases are easily preventable.

“We now have a very real risk of measles outbreaks across the country.”

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During a visit to Birmingham on Friday, UKHSA chief executive Dame Jenny Harries said low coverage is a “nationwide problem”, warning on average about only 85% of children are arriving at school having had the two MMR doses.

She said: “In some areas, these are going right down to about 70% and that is too low to maintain safe population coverage.”

The World Health Organisation recommends that all countries have a 95% coverage rate, she added.

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